lurkers-guide/guide/079

<!-- TITLE Rumors, Bargains and Lies -->

<h2><a name="OV">Overview</a></h2>

<blockquote><cite>
Sheridan tricks the League of Non-Aligned Worlds into accepting his proposed
defense pact.  Delenn tries to work with an old rival to defuse a brewing
Minbari civil war.
</cite>

<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Vickery,+John">John Vickery</a> as Neroon.
</blockquote>

<pre><a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/079">8.33</a>

Production number: 413
Original air week: May 12, 1997
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000DGBEY/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: January 6, 2004

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Mike Vejar
</pre>

<p>
<hr size=3>

<h2><a name="BP">Plot Points</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li>@@@863427621 The League of Non-Aligned Worlds has agreed to give the
	White Star fleet authority to operate as a police force along its
	borders.

   <li>@@@863465106 Civil war has broken out in the Minbari capital city.

   <li>@@@863465106 Three quarters of Clark's cabinet resigned in protest of
	his martial law decree.

</ul>

<h2><a name="UQ">Unanswered Questions</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li>@@@863427621 Is Neroon really betraying Delenn?

   <li>@@@864002776 The episode focused on the religious and warrior castes.
	What happened to the worker caste?  Are they participating in
	the fighting, and if so, which side have they taken?

</ul>

<h2><a name="AN">Analysis</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li>@@@863465106 Will the Non-Aligned Worlds' pledge to help Sheridan with
	any larger missions extend to his conflict with President Clark?  Even
	in its diminished state, the combined forces of the Non-Aligned Worlds'
	navies would likely be a great asset if the conflict came down to a
	direct, prolonged series of battles.  On the other hand, intervening
	in internal Earth matters isn't what the ambassadors had in mind; they
	might balk at sending their ships to die for the cause of overthrowing
	Earth's government.

<p>
   <li>@@@864003857 By allowing the White Star fleet to patrol Centauri space
	in search of the Drakh (among others,) Londo has given Sheridan
	direct influence over the ability of the Shadows' allies to exact their
	revenge on Centauri Prime.  Perhaps that's the source of Londo's
	comment in
	<a href="061.html">"War Without End"</a>
	about Sheridan allowing the Shadows' dark servants to slip through to
	Centauri Prime; if Sheridan uses the White Star fleet for some larger
	mission as he hints he might, it'll presumably be at the cost of
	Centauri Prime's defense against the Drakh.

<p>
   <li>@@@865971732 During the conversation between Londo and the Drazi
	ambassador, Londo's duplicity is underscored by the staging of the
	scene.  In most of the scene, two images of Londo can be seen: his
	reflection in the mirror or his portrait.  The rest of the time
	his face is obscured by a curtain.

<p>
   <li>@@@863427621 In the past, Delenn has attempted to preserve Lennier's
	innocence (e.g. by trying to leave him behind in
	<a href="075.html">"Atonement."</a>)
	But from Lennier's point of view, she has an innocence of her own, and
	he sees himself as its guardian.

<p>
   <li>@@@863427621 Neroon may not be betraying Delenn at all; he told Shakiri
	the he knew the religious caste's counterattack plans, but Delenn
	made no mention of a counterattack.  It's possible his departure
	was, in fact, all part of Delenn's plan; Lennier wasn't privy to
	the conversation between Delenn and Neroon, so he wouldn't know
	the details and would be fooled by Neroon's departure.

<p>
   <li>@@@864003334 By revealing how much she relies on Lennier, Delenn may
	have given valuable information to an opponent.  Neroon was honorable
	enough and helped Lennier, and seems uninterested in directly battling
	or hurting Delenn (if he'd been interested in that, he wasted several
	opportunities while on her ship.)  But if Neroon passes the information
	along to Shakiri, Lennier may find himself in danger.

<p>
   <li>@@@864028581 Neroon said of the situation on Minbar, "We are a world
	gone mad."  That's the same thing one of the council members told
	Delenn in
	<a href="075.html">"Atonement,"</a>
	before declaring, as Neroon did, that the fire would have to burn
	itself out and couldn't be stopped.  Yet the Earth-Minbari War
	did stop abruptly; perhaps the same will happen in this case.

<p>
   <li>@@@864584789 Neroon's comment about loving a good mystery also echoed
	<a href="075.html">"Atonement,"</a>
	in which Delenn said to the Grey Council that mysteries are a gift
	from the universe and shouldn't be ignored.

<p>
   <li>@@@864588190 The religious caste member said he heard Delenn say,
	"The religious caste could not be allowed to win this war."  But she
	actually said, "The warrior caste cannot be allowed to win this
	war.  The religious caste cannot be allowed to win either."  Was he
	simply embellishing a half-overheard comment (e.g. if he only heard
	the second sentence up to "win") or did he choose to ignore or lie
	about the context?

<p>
   <li>@@@864588347 The religious caste has been the butt of jokes about
	surrendering "ever since the war," according to the same religious
	caste member.  Clearly that can't be referring to the Shadow War,
	since they didn't surrender.  Does the comment indicate that most
	Minbari still consider the Earth-Minbari War to be the major war of
	recent memory?  Since the warrior caste is the group making the jokes,
	the implication is that they didn't particularly participate in the
	Shadow War.

<p>
   <li>@@@863427621 The two storylines in the episode can be seen as point and
	counterpoint on the subject of deception and secrecy (the title is
	evidence that this isn't an accident.)  Delenn kept
	her plans secret from her compatriots and nearly died with them as
	a result.  Neroon was attacked for the same reason.
	Sheridan kept secrets as well, and asked Franklin and Londo to lie
	for him, and it helped his plans come to fruition.

	<p>
	Lennier's deception played into the theme; he kept the true nature
	of the sabotage from Delenn, with no immediate ill effect.  However,
	it's possible that by maintaining Delenn's excessive faith in her
	caste, Lennier in fact deprived her of vital information she'd do well
	to take into account in the future.

	<p>
	Ivanova held fast to the ideal of truth, but every
	other major player in the story participated in some form of deception:
	the rebellious religious caste members hid their plot, the League
	ambassadors kept their "knowledge" of the new enemy from Sheridan,
	and Neroon lied to either Delenn or Shakiri about his intentions.

</ul>

<h2><a name="NO">Notes</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li>@@@864003655 Delenn mentioned this as the second time she'd seen
	Lennier near death.  The first was in
	<a href="046.html">"Convictions,"</a>
	in which he risked his life to save Londo Mollari.

   <li>@@@865705464 Ivanova tells Sheridan that Marcus is waiting for him on
	channel 4.  That's a reference to the network that shows B5 in the UK.

   <li>@@@864582344 Editing glitch: during the opening scene, a piece of
	food appears on Marcus' fork while the camera shifts to Sheridan;
	the scene shifts again and he hasn't picked the food up yet.

</ul>

<h2><a name="JS">jms speaks</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li>@@@863798106 The Sheridan stuff was fun, in that I got to play
	Sheridan as the one being manipulative for a change, smart for a
	change...not just Londo or the usual suspects.  It made for a nifty
	change of pace.

	<p>
	And yeah, Mira brought a lot of truth to this episode...and will
	bring even more in next week.

<p>
   <li>@@@863715772 <em>Ivanova looked like she was reading from a
	teleprompter.</em><br>
	Yeah, we had Claudia use a teleprompter there to add to the
	sense of having to read something...and enjoy the happy-go-lucky
	Sheridan...it's the last you'll see of him for a long time....

<p>
   <li>@@@864002776 <em>Lennier seems to be doing more peacemaking than
	Delenn.  Is he the real bridge between races?  Why does the religious
	caste follow Delenn?</em><br>
	No, I wouldn't say Lennier is a bridge in any sense along those
	lines.

	<p>
	Delenn, you must understand, is a True Seeker, and among the
	religious caste there isn't much more admirable than that...combined
	with the fact that she *did* fulfill prophecy, she *was* the chosen of
	Dukhat, she *did* help end the Shadow War...yeah, she's had some
	problems here and there, but what important leader doesn't?  Any one of
	those items would be a sufficient crown on a lifetime of
	achievement...the cumulative effect is quite daunting and impressive.

<p>
   <li>@@@864893404 <em>Are Lennier's patience, humor, and devotion
	unique?</em><br>
	No, many Minbari share in those traits.

<p>
   <li>@@@864060805 "Are tears a normal Minbari physical reaction, or is
	weeping (for Delenn) one of the changes mandated by her chrysalitic"

	<p>
	We've seen Delenn cry before, when she and G'Kar were in her
	quarters and she was explining why she did not get involved in the
	Narn/Centauri war.

<p>
   <li>@@@864500179 <em>How did Londo see an Earth sitcom if all broadcasts
	to B5 are being jammed?</em><br>
	Easy.  The incident Londo is mentioning happened prior to the
	blackout. He never said it *just* happened, he said the *last* time
	Rebo and Zooty did their routine, everybody was doing it.

<p>
   <li>@@@864542764 <em>Were Rebo and Zooty references to real
	people?</em><br>
	No, not intended as tributes to anyone, just a cool sounding
	pair of names (but also annoying sounding).

</ul>